


Behind Every Door

by gwmclintock88



Category: Monsters Inc (2001), Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Drabble, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-20
Updated: 2013-02-26
Packaged: 2017-11-29 23:42:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/692879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwmclintock88/pseuds/gwmclintock88
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"He did not lay there for long, his body rebounding to stand akimbo almost immediately before spinning to look at the closet he appeared from only moments ago. "</p><p>Or, how Sulley found himself in Storybrooke.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He stumbled forward, body awkwardly bouncing for a moment. He did not lay there for long, his body rebounding to stand akimbo almost immediately before spinning to look at the closet he appeared from only moments ago. Opening and closing it rather quickly, the man puzzled with Mr. Gold stared at him, taking the moment to assess the man before him as the man seemed to be puzzling over his appearance.  
A tall beast of man, he towered over Mr. Gold, with limbs that looked more tree trunk than human. Still, the nimble movements belied his weight and more important the danger. A shabby brown hair topped a blockish head with a pair of browline glasses providing a little character. An oddity of a man, but still one does not appear out of mid-air without some magic.  
“What?” The man mumbled to himself. Finally, his gaze tore from the closet, but not to Mr. Gold. Rather, he seemed to be inspecting himself. How did this man appear here and more important, could he use it himself?  
The man brushed his hands over his arms and legs, muttering about the lack of fur or something. As he reached his face, he moved to his head, tapped the side of it. “They’re gone.” Mr. Gold managed to make out. Still standing calmly behind the man, he began to wonder when, or if the man would notice him. Sheriff Swan could likely handle this, but then again, he wouldn’t gain anything from letting the sheriff know quite yet.  
“Well, at least that is the right size,” the man muttered, lifting his pants forward and looking down. He tilted his head sideways before muttering aloud “looks a bit bigger without the fur.”  
“Hello,” Mr. Gold finally said, causing the man to jump and twist in toward him. The man stood like a cat, arms bared like claws. “I would like to know what you are doing in my guest bedroom.”  
“Umm…” The man moved toward the corner, to keep both the closet and Mr. Gold in front of him. Something about the closet spooked him, which meant that whatever power propelled him through it was not his own. “I would like to know the same thing.” A deep baritone responded, chagrined.  
“ You fell through the closet, that certainly is not normal,” Mr. Gold, taking a step forward. While he looked dangerous, the man appeared to be nothing more than a big teddy bear. At least unprovoked and at the moment, Mr. Gold had done nothing to warrant an attack. “Is that how your people travel?”  
“Well, it depends,” the man scratched his head, hands hitting the glasses askew. It took a moment for the man to realize that he could not see as well, as he fumbled to right them on his head. “If we’re looking for a laugh, or when we scared ‘em, we’d use the doors to travel to a bedroom.”  
Another world? Another traveler from another world? Like Jefferson, but this man, he said ‘we’ which meant that he wasn’t the only one who could use the doors. “How do they work? Who made them?” The questions came out quick and furious. This could be a way to get to Bae, a way out of the town stuck by that damned curse. He could find his son!  
“I’m sorry,” he scratched his head again, looking more confused than before, “I wish I knew. It wasn’t quite something they went over in Scare tactics, hell, I only found out about how many we had last year or so.” He looked at Gold for a moment before shaking his head. “Sorry, I haven’t introduced myself yet. The name’s James P. Sullivan. But back home, everyone called me Sulley.”


	2. Part 2

“Sulley?” Mr. Gold stepped forward, taking the offered hand in his own. “Well, let’s start with something simple then: How did you get in here?”  
“Through the closet.” Sullivan said as if it was the simpliest thing in the world. He turned to look at the close, scratching his head. “Someone had left it operational, but I don’t think this time is going to turn out as well as the last one.”  
“You’ve gone through them before?” The promise of travel was some prominent and important that he disregarded how the man came to stand before him.   
“Yes, but usually, we don’t close the link behind us.” The closet door was wide open, showing only emptiness and a few bare hangers. “If we close the link, we’re locked out. I mean, I might be able to find another door, but that wouldn’t explain this.” Sullivan motioned toward his entire body before turning back around to give a sheepish grin. “I’m sorry for disrupting your evening.”  
“Well, you certainly are polite,” Mr. Gold managed to get out. The doors were not an option, which meant that he could not use them to find Bae, at least in the current form. “So, would you like to know where you are?” A deal to be made, or something along those lines.   
“Storybrooke,” Sullivan said, the smile growing genuine. The man may look like a giant, but he certainly didn’t behave in any way like that. “I had a report on the door; it was on my clipbo – Hey, it came through with me.” If anything, the smile grew larger as Sullivan leaned down to pick up a clipboard that Mr. Gold knew had not been there. The rooms were cleaned weekly, and he checked them daily. He did not want another Moe French incident.   
“Here,” Sullivan held out a sheet of paper to him, taken from the clipboard. Mr. Gold took it, surprised that the man trusted him with something from another world.   
The sheet appeared to be like any other inventory inquiry. He had several forms that he used when he did the inventory for the shop. It was written in English, but that may have been attributed to the magic that seem to have impacted Sullivan as well. A company logo at the top stated “Monster’s Inc” underneath a capital ‘M’ with an eye in the middle of it. A serial number for what had to be the door was listed first, followed by the information Mr. Gold found to be pertinent. His address listed right there, third bedroom on the second floor. \  
Mr. Gold’s eyes widened at the name of the child: Baelfire. His son. A son that had been lost in time and worlds was thought to be here, in Storybrooke with him. Baelfire stood out, in dark scrawl, staring back at him. The age was written as “10?” and he could not tear his eyes from it. Warring emotions filled him, but he fought back the tears he had forgotten he could cry.  
“He’s a little old for us, but the question mark was the problem.” Sullivan broke Mr. Gold’s gaze from the page. The man held the clipboard at his side and looked relaxed. It certainly was not the state of being he found himself. Someone could find Bae, and that mean this man could help him. He fought back the rage and despair, pushing down the depression at the thought that he should have Bae with him.   
“What do you mean?” Information was key before making any deals. Sullivan appeared to be giving it up freely.  
“Most of the time, we go after really young, human children, I think ages four to eight, though some are older.”  
“’Go after?’ You go after these children? For what? To kidnap him?” Part of him was outraged at the thought that someone would steal Bae, despite Bae not being there at all. The other part, the Dark One part, realized that the world were Sullivan came from understood the aspect of a deal, or at least, the utility of a child.  
“We used to enter through their closets and scare them,” Sullivan admitted. “Our slogan was ‘We scare, because we care.’”   
“Wait, you came into their rooms and scared them?” The answer threw Gold for a loop; why would they just want to scare children. Their emotions, certainly, were powerful, and as children, all the more frightenable.   
“Yeah, I mean, how else would we do it?” Sullivan shook his head for a moment and Gold could not help the small smirk that emerged on his face.   
“You are literally the monsters in the closets.” The man just nodded, and Gold could not hold back a chuckle. “The boogeyman.”  
“No, he’s retired.” Sullivan said, as if it were fact. If the man was just as impacted by magic, as he was, then there could be some truth to him. They were likely to have a long conversation now, just to deal with everything. “Well, Senior is, I think the son is now working for the mayor of Monstropolis.”  
“Monstropolis? Gold asked, his eyebrow lifting in question. “We’re going to have a long conversation. Please, come with me.” He didn’t turn to see if Sullivan followed. The man was likely to follow him simply because there was nowhere else for him to go. He planned on grabbing the revolver, just in case Sullivan was as crazy as he seemed. But he had to give Sullivan some credit, if it meant that what he knew could help bring Baelfire back to him or get him out of here. He would be more of a help than Jefferson ever was.   
“Hey, I’ve got a bag here.” And the man appeared just as easily distracted as a dog it seemed.


End file.
